October 2013

In his 20 years as a Lehman township supervisor, Department of Environmental Protection records two violations of illegal burning: in October 2008 and a revisit in April, 2009 for failing to desist burning. Menditto is quoted saying, it was in an effort to save resident tax dollars, insisting all was clean burn material, though DEP documented, ‘all waste material.’ Nonetheless, the Township exercised its own jurisdiction by reporting a local resident for illegal burning when the smoke filled the Township office. Read more

Halloween is associated with many things; today it’s mostly trick-or-treating or costume parties. If you go back in history, however, it can be observed that there was much more of a supernatural element in people’s beliefs. Many of these supernatural beliefs had to do with nature and natural events. A lot of superstition over various creatures got started in the Middle Ages, when we didn’t understand them or their interaction with the environment. In many cases when people didn’t understand animals or their adaptations back then, they were to be feared. Read more

UPPER DELAWARE AND MID-HUDSON RIVER VALLEYS — Pheasant hunting is underway in New York and for Region 3 (counties of Sullivan, Orange, Delaware Dutchess, Putnam and Ulsters) the season extends from now through February 28.

Annually, about 30,000 adult pheasants, which are raised on a game farm near Ithaca, are released just prior to and during the fall pheasant hunting season. Releases occur across the state on both state and private lands open to public hunting. Read more

UPPER DELAWARE RIVER VALLEY— An injured barred owl found in early October near Narrowsburg, NY was taken to the Delaware Valley Raptor Center (www.dvrconline.org, or 570/296-6025) in Milford, PA. Following treatment by raptor rehabilitator Bill Streeter, the recovered owl was released into the wild last week at the spot where it was found.

NEW YORK STATE — When New York State developed its 2012-2016 deer management plan, some hunters expressed strong interest in modifying hunting rules and regulations to allow more bucks to live to older ages and develop heavier bodies with larger antlers. As a result of that input, one of the objectives in Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) current deer management plan is to “encourage various strategies to reduce harvest of young (1.5-year-old) bucks in accordance with hunter desires.” Read more

LAKE HUNTINGTON, NY — “These are the days of our lives.” Those words made famous by television’s timelessly popular soap opera aptly apply to the young men and women who have devoted themselves wholeheartedly to their exploits on the fields and trails this fall. These precious autumn days are waning, but the memories encoded therein will not fade, thanks to the thousands of photos taken and the stories written that will preserve these noble youthful endeavors for time immemorial. Read more

Emily and I are on the chairlift heading towards the Great Wall of China. It’s beautifully quiet, with nothing to hear save for the whirr of the lift and the occasional bird chirp. Eventually, the trees part and the wall appears over the horizon. It is breathtaking and stretches as far as the eye can see. Suddenly, the camera shakes and the image freezes. Rewinds. The trees part and the wall appears over the horizon again and this time the image FREEZES before the camera shakes. Read more

HIGHLAND LAKE, NY — International theatre company Theater Mitu will bring “Juárez: A Documentary Mythology” to NACL Theatre on Saturday, November 2 at 7:30 p.m. The performance is a theatrical exploration of a place in conflict and its mythology, created from a series of interviews, experiences and research in and around Ciudad Juárez, Mexico over the past two years. The play is created by Theater Mitu in collaboration with citizens of Cd. Juárez/El Paso, and led by Juárez-born and raised director Rubén Polendo. Read more

HONESDALE, PA — Under the auspices of a new board of directors, The Wayne County Art Alliance (WCAA) has moved to a new space at the end of Maude Alley, located at 1023 Main Street. The space will be home to an art gallery and a small office. (For more on the gallery’s grand opening, see p. 24.)

In June, WCAA seated a totally new 10-member board, and by October 1 had moved out of its previous location in the Torrey Building next to the Wayne County Historical Society. Former executive director Tamara Murray stepped down from her post. Read more